05:57 AM EST, 12/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian markets declined at the end of Friday's session as investors await US personal spending data for November, to be released later the same day.

Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai closed in the red, along with most exchanges in the region.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.3%, or 111.68 basis points, to 38,701.90.

Nissan Motor continues as the top gainer on the index, while Tokyo Tatemono led the session's losers.

In other news, the Bank of Japan has decided to maintain the current guideline for money market operations by an 8-1 majority vote, aiming for the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.25%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined 0.2% to finish the week at 19,720.70. The Shanghai Composite Index was also down slightly to 3,368.07.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International closed ahead with an 8.2% increase, while Kuaishou Technology shed 5.4%.

In other sector news, the People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate steady at 3.1% and its five-year loan prime rate at 3.6%.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI was down 1.3%; the Taiwan TWSE lost 1.8%; the Australian ASX 200 retreated 1.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell by 1.1%, and the Thai Set was 0.9% lower.